The written protohistory of Scotland began with the arrival of the Roman Empire in southern and central Great Britain, when the Romans occupied what is now England and Wales, administering it as a province called Britannia. Roman invasions and occupations of southern Scotland were a series of brief interludes. According to the Roman historian Tacitus , the Caledonians "turned to armed resistance on a large scale", attacking Roman forts and skirmishing with their legions. In a surprise night-attack, the Caledonians very nearly wiped out the whole 9th Legion until it was saved by General Gnaeus Julius Agricola 's cavalry.

Tacitus wrote that, before the battle, the Caledonian leader, Calgacus , gave a rousing speech in which he called his people the "last of the free" and accused the Romans of "making the world a desert and calling it peace" freely translated. Three years after the battle, the Roman armies had withdrawn to the Southern Uplands. The Romans erected Hadrian's Wall to control tribes on both sides of the wall [48] so the Limes Britannicus became the northern border of the Roman Empire; although the army held the Antonine Wall in the Central Lowlands for two short periods — the last during the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus from until The Roman military occupation of a significant part of what is now northern Scotland lasted only about 40 years, although their influence on the southern section of the country, occupied by Brythonic tribes such as the Votadini and Damnonii , would still have been considerable between the first and fifth centuries.

However, some archaeologists have argued against this view, saying there is no archaeological or placename evidence for a migration or a takeover by a small group of elites. The Kingdom of the Picts based in Fortriu by the 6th century was the state that eventually became known as "Alba" or "Scotland". The development of "Pictland", according to the historical model developed by Peter Heather , was a natural response to Roman imperialism.

The Kingdom of the Picts in the early 8th century, when Bede was writing, was largely the same as the kingdom of the Scots in the reign of Alexander I — From a base of territory in eastern Scotland north of the River Forth and south of the River Oykel , the kingdom acquired control of the lands lying to the north and south.

By the 12th century, the kings of Alba had added to their territories the English -speaking land in the south-east and attained overlordship of Gaelic -speaking Galloway and Norse -speaking Caithness ; by the end of the 13th century, the kingdom had assumed approximately its modern borders. However, processes of cultural and economic change beginning in the 12th century ensured Scotland looked very different in the later Middle Ages.

The push for this change was the reign of David I and the Davidian Revolution. Feudalism, government reorganisation and the first legally recognised towns called burghs began in this period. These institutions and the immigration of French and Anglo-French knights and churchmen facilitated cultural osmosis, whereby the culture and language of the low-lying and coastal parts of the kingdom's original territory in the east became, like the newly acquired south-east, English-speaking, while the rest of the country retained the Gaelic language, apart from the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland, which remained under Norse rule until The death of Alexander III in March , followed by that of his granddaughter Margaret, Maid of Norway , broke the centuries-old succession line of Scotland's kings and shattered the year golden age that began with David I.

Edward I of England was asked to arbitrate between claimants for the Scottish crown, and he organised a process known as the Great Cause to identify the most legitimate claimant. Edward I, who had coerced recognition as Lord Paramount of Scotland , the feudal superior of the realm, steadily undermined John's authority.

Instead, the Scottish parliament sent envoys to France to negotiate an alliance. Scotland and France sealed a treaty on 23 October , known as the Auld Alliance — War ensued and King John was deposed by Edward who took personal control of Scotland. Andrew Moray and William Wallace initially emerged as the principal leaders of the resistance to English rule in what became known as the Wars of Scottish Independence — Robert I battled to restore Scottish Independence as King for over 20 years, beginning by winning Scotland back from the Norman English invaders piece by piece.

Victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in proved the Scots had regained control of their kingdom. In , Edward Bruce , brother of the King, was briefly appointed High King of Ireland during an ultimately unsuccessful Scottish invasion of Ireland aimed at strengthening Scotland's position in its wars against England. In the world's first documented declaration of independence, the Declaration of Arbroath , won the support of Pope John XXII , leading to the legal recognition of Scottish sovereignty by the English Crown. The war with England continued for several decades after the death of Bruce.

A civil war between the Bruce dynasty and their long-term Comyn-Balliol rivals lasted until the middle of the 14th century. The country they ruled experienced greater prosperity from the end of the 14th century through the Scottish Renaissance to the Reformation. This was despite continual warfare with England, the increasing division between Highlands and Lowlands , and a large number of royal minorities.

This period was the height of the Franco-Scottish alliance. Three years later, at the Battle of Verneuil , the French and Scots lost around men. For Henry, the marriage into one of Europe's most established monarchies gave legitimacy to the new Tudor royal line. He was the last British monarch to die in battle, at the Battle of Flodden.


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France agreed to withdraw all land and naval forces. In the same year, , John Knox realised his goal of seeing Scotland become a Protestant nation and the Scottish parliament revoke papal authority in Scotland. The Battle of Altimarlach in was the last significant clan battle fought between highland clans.

In , the Company of Scotland attempted a project to secure a trading colony on the Isthmus of Panama. Almost every Scottish landowner who had money to spare is said to have invested in the Darien scheme. Its failure bankrupted these landowners, but not the burghs. Nevertheless, the nobles' bankruptcy, along with the threat of an English invasion, played a leading role in convincing the Scots elite to back a union with England. The following year twin Acts of Union were passed by both parliaments to create the united Kingdom of Great Britain with effect from 1 May [21] with popular opposition and anti-union riots in Edinburgh , Glasgow , and elsewhere.

With trade tariffs with England now abolished, trade blossomed, especially with Colonial America. The clippers belonging to the Glasgow Tobacco Lords were the fastest ships on the route to Virginia. Until the American War of Independence in , Glasgow was the world's premier tobacco port, dominating world trade. The deposed Jacobite Stuart claimants had remained popular in the Highlands and north-east, particularly amongst non- Presbyterians , including Roman Catholics and Episcopalian Protestants.

However, two major Jacobite risings launched in and failed to remove the House of Hanover from the British throne. The threat of the Jacobite movement to the United Kingdom and its monarchs effectively ended at the Battle of Culloden , Great Britain's last pitched battle. The Scottish Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution turned Scotland into an intellectual, commercial and industrial powerhouse [82] —so much so Voltaire said "We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation. Historian Neil Davidson notes "after there was an entirely new level of participation by Scots in political life, particularly outside Scotland.

In the Highlands, clan chiefs gradually started to think of themselves more as commercial landlords than leaders of their people. These social and economic changes included the first phase of the Highland Clearances and, ultimately, the demise of clanship.

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The Scottish Reform Act increased the number of Scottish MPs and widened the franchise to include more of the middle classes. Glasgow became one of the largest cities in the world and known as "the Second City of the Empire" after London. It became the world's pre-eminent shipbuilding centre.

While the Scottish Enlightenment is traditionally considered to have concluded toward the end of the 18th century, [94] disproportionately large Scottish contributions to British science and letters continued for another 50 years or more, thanks to such figures as the physicists James Clerk Maxwell and Lord Kelvin , and the engineers and inventors James Watt and William Murdoch , whose work was critical to the technological developments of the Industrial Revolution throughout Britain.

His first prose work, Waverley in , is often called the first historical novel. Barrie and George MacDonald. The Glasgow School , which developed in the late 19th century, and flourished in the early 20th century, produced a distinctive blend of influences including the Celtic Revival the Arts and Crafts movement , and Japonism , which found favour throughout the modern art world of continental Europe and helped define the Art Nouveau style. Proponents included architect and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

This period saw a process of rehabilitation for Highland culture. In the s, as part of the Romantic revival , tartan and the kilt were adopted by members of the social elite, not just in Scotland, but across Europe, [] [] prompted by the popularity of Macpherson's Ossian cycle [] [] and then Walter Scott's Waverley novels. These problems, and the desire to improve agriculture and profits were the driving forces of the ongoing Highland Clearances , in which many of the population of the Highlands suffered eviction as lands were enclosed, principally so that they could be used for sheep farming.

The first phase of the clearances followed patterns of agricultural change throughout Britain. The second phase was driven by overpopulation, the Highland Potato Famine and the collapse of industries that had relied on the wartime economy of the Napoleonic Wars. The behaviour of tenants and landlords varied, but overall the clearances were notorious as a result of the late timing, the lack of legal protection for year-by-year tenants under Scots law , the abruptness of the change from the traditional clan system, and the brutality of some evictions.

As a result, during the period —, about 2 million Scots migrated to North America and Australia, and another , Scots relocated to England. After prolonged years of struggle in the Kirk, in the Evangelicals gained control of the General Assembly and passed the Veto Act, which allowed congregations to reject unwanted "intrusive" presentations to livings by patrons.

The following "Ten Years' Conflict" of legal and political wrangling ended in defeat for the non-intrusionists in the civil courts. The result was a schism from the church by some of the non-intrusionists led by Dr Thomas Chalmers , known as the Great Disruption of Roughly a third of the clergy, mainly from the North and Highlands, formed the separate Free Church of Scotland.

In , despite opposition, a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy was restored to the country, and Catholicism became a significant denomination within Scotland. Industrialisation, urbanisation and the Disruption of all undermined the tradition of parish schools. From the state began to fund buildings with grants; then from it was funding schools by direct sponsorship; and in Scotland moved to a system like that in England of state-sponsored largely free schools, run by local school boards.

From Scottish universities could admit and graduate women and the numbers of women at Scottish universities steadily increased until the early 20th century. Scotland played a major role in the British effort in the First World War. It especially provided manpower, ships, machinery, fish and money. The war saw the emergence of a radical movement called " Red Clydeside " led by militant trades unionists. Formerly a Liberal stronghold, the industrial districts switched to Labour by , with a base among the Irish Catholic working-class districts. Women were especially active in building neighbourhood solidarity on housing issues.

However, the "Reds" operated within the Labour Party and had little influence in Parliament and the mood changed to passive despair by the late s. The shipbuilding industry expanded by a third and expected renewed prosperity, but instead, a serious depression hit the economy by and it did not fully recover until The interwar years were marked by economic stagnation in rural and urban areas, and high unemployment.

Thoughtful Scots pondered their declension, as the main social indicators such as poor health, bad housing, and long-term mass unemployment, pointed to terminal social and economic stagnation at best, or even a downward spiral. Service abroad on behalf of the Empire lost its allure to ambitious young people, who left Scotland permanently. The heavy dependence on obsolescent heavy industry and mining was a central problem, and no one offered workable solutions. The despair reflected what Finlay describes as a widespread sense of hopelessness that prepared local business and political leaders to accept a new orthodoxy of centralised government economic planning when it arrived during the Second World War.

During the Second World War, Scotland was targeted by Nazi Germany largely due to its factories, shipyards, and coal mines. Perhaps Scotland's most unusual wartime episode occurred in when Rudolf Hess flew to Renfrewshire, possibly intending to broker a peace deal through the Duke of Hamilton. Pintsch delivered the letter to Hitler at the Berghof around noon on 11 May. Scottish industry came out of the depression slump by a dramatic expansion of its industrial activity, absorbing unemployed men and many women as well.

The shipyards were the centre of more activity, but many smaller industries produced the machinery needed by the British bombers, tanks and warships. Increased income, and the more equal distribution of food, obtained through a tight rationing system, dramatically improved the health and nutrition. After , Scotland's economic situation worsened due to overseas competition, inefficient industry, and industrial disputes.

Economic factors contributing to this recovery included a resurgent financial services industry, electronics manufacturing , see Silicon Glen , [] and the North Sea oil and gas industry. The Scottish Parliament Building at Holyrood itself did not open until October , after lengthy construction delays and running over budget. The pro- independence Scottish National Party led by Alex Salmond achieved this in the election , winning 69 of the seats available.

The mainland of Scotland comprises the northern third of the land mass of the island of Great Britain, which lies off the north-west coast of Continental Europe. The Atlantic Ocean borders the west coast and the North Sea is to the east. The territorial extent of Scotland is generally that established by the Treaty of York between Scotland and the Kingdom of England [] and the Treaty of Perth between Scotland and Norway. The geographical centre of Scotland lies a few miles from the village of Newtonmore in Badenoch.

The whole of Scotland was covered by ice sheets during the Pleistocene ice ages and the landscape is much affected by glaciation. From a geological perspective, the country has three main sub-divisions. This part of Scotland largely comprises ancient rocks from the Cambrian and Precambrian , which were uplifted during the later Caledonian orogeny.

It is interspersed with igneous intrusions of a more recent age, remnants of which formed mountain massifs such as the Cairngorms and Skye Cuillins. A significant exception to the above are the fossil-bearing beds of Old Red Sandstones found principally along the Moray Firth coast. The Highlands are generally mountainous and the highest elevations in the British Isles are found here. Scotland has over islands divided into four main groups: There are numerous bodies of freshwater including Loch Lomond and Loch Ness.

Some parts of the coastline consist of machair , a low-lying dune pasture land. The Central Lowlands is a rift valley mainly comprising Paleozoic formations. Many of these sediments have economic significance for it is here that the coal and iron bearing rocks that fuelled Scotland's industrial revolution are found. This area has also experienced intense volcanism, Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh being the remnant of a once much larger volcano. This area is relatively low-lying, although even here hills such as the Ochils and Campsie Fells are rarely far from view.

They lie south of a second fault line the Southern Uplands fault that runs from Girvan to Dunbar. The climate of Scotland is temperate and oceanic , and tends to be very changeable. As it is warmed by the Gulf Stream from the Atlantic, it has much milder winters but cooler, wetter summers than areas on similar latitudes, such as Labrador , southern Scandinavia , the Moscow region in Russia, and the Kamchatka Peninsula on the opposite side of Eurasia.

The highest temperature recorded was The west of Scotland is usually warmer than the east, owing to the influence of Atlantic ocean currents and the colder surface temperatures of the North Sea. Tiree , in the Inner Hebrides, is one of the sunniest places in the country: Braemar has an average of 59 snow days per year, [] while many coastal areas average fewer than 10 days of lying snow per year.

Scotland's wildlife is typical of the north-west of Europe, although several of the larger mammals such as the lynx, brown bear, wolf, elk and walrus were hunted to extinction in historic times. There are important populations of seals and internationally significant nesting grounds for a variety of seabirds such as gannets. On the high mountain tops, species including ptarmigan , mountain hare and stoat can be seen in their white colour phase during winter months.

Today, much of the remaining native Caledonian Forest lies within the Cairngorms National Park and remnants of the forest remain at 84 locations across Scotland. On the west coast, remnants of ancient Celtic Rainforest still remain, particularly on the Taynish peninsula in Argyll , these forests are particularly rare due to high rates of deforestation throughout Scottish history.

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The flora of the country is varied incorporating both deciduous and coniferous woodland as well as moorland and tundra species. However, large scale commercial tree planting and the management of upland moorland habitat for the grazing of sheep and commercial field sport activities impacts upon the distribution of indigenous plants and animals.

The population of Scotland at the Census was 5,, This rose to 5,,, the highest ever, at the Census. Although Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, the largest city is Glasgow, which has just over , inhabitants. The Greater Glasgow conurbation, with a population of almost 1. Scotland's only major city outside the Central Belt is Aberdeen. In general, only the more accessible and larger islands remain inhabited.

Currently, fewer than 90 remain inhabited. The Southern Uplands are essentially rural in nature and dominated by agriculture and forestry. Scotland has three officially recognised languages: English, Scots , and Scottish Gaelic. There are many more people with Scottish ancestry living abroad than the total population of Scotland. In the Census, 9. In August , the Scottish population reached an all-time high of 5. The total fertility rate TFR in Scotland is below the replacement rate of 2. The majority of births are to unmarried women Life expectancy for those born in Scotland between and is Since it has had a Presbyterian system of church government and enjoys independence from the state.

Other Christian denominations in Scotland include the Free Church of Scotland , and various other Presbyterian offshoots. Scotland's third largest church is the Scottish Episcopal Church. Islam is the largest non-Christian religion estimated at around 75,, which is about 1. The regnal numbering "Elizabeth II" caused controversy around the time of her coronation because there had never been an Elizabeth I in Scotland. The British government stated in April that future British monarchs would be numbered according to either their English or their Scottish predecessors, whichever number would be higher.

The monarchy of the United Kingdom continues to use a variety of styles, titles and other royal symbols of statehood specific to pre-union Scotland, including: Scotland has limited self-government within the United Kingdom, as well as representation in the UK Parliament. Executive and legislative powers respectively have been devolved to the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in Edinburgh since The UK Parliament retains control over reserved matters specified in the Scotland Act , including UK taxes, social security, defence, international relations and broadcasting.

It initially had only a limited power to vary income tax , [] but powers over taxation and social security were significantly expanded by the Scotland Acts of and The Scottish Parliament can give legislative consent over devolved matters back to the UK Parliament by passing a Legislative Consent Motion if United Kingdom-wide legislation is considered more appropriate for a certain issue. The programmes of legislation enacted by the Scottish Parliament have seen a divergence in the provision of public services compared to the rest of the UK.

For instance, university education and care services for the elderly are free at point of use in Scotland, while fees are paid in the rest of the UK. Scotland was the first country in the UK to ban smoking in enclosed public places. MSPs serve for a four-year period exceptionally five years from — The Parliament nominates one of its Members, who is then appointed by the Monarch to serve as First Minister. Together they make up the Scottish Government, the executive arm of the devolved government. The First Minister is also the political leader of Scotland. Alongside the Deputy First Minister's requirements as Deputy, the minister also has a cabinet ministerial responsibility.

Swinney is also currently Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills. There are also twelve other ministers, who work alongside the cabinet secretaries in their appointed areas. The Conservative Party became the largest opposition party in the elections, with the Labour Party , Liberal Democrats and the Green Party also represented in the Parliament. The next Scottish Parliament election is due to be held on 6 May Scotland is represented in the British House of Commons by 59 MPs elected from territory-based Scottish constituencies. In the general election , the SNP won 35 of the 59 seats.

The next United Kingdom general election is scheduled for 5 May The relationships between the central UK Government and devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are based on the extra-statutory principles and agreements with the main elements are set out in a Memorandum of Understanding between the UK government and the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The MOU lays emphasis on the principles of good communication, consultation and co-operation. Since devolution in , Scotland has devolved stronger working relations across the two other devolved governments, the Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive. Whilst there are no formal concordats between the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive, ministers from each devolved government meet at various points throughout the year at various events such as the British-Irish Council and also meet to discuss matters and issues that are devolved to each government.

The Scottish Government considers the successful re-establishment of the Plenary, and establishment of the Domestic fora to be important facets of the relationship with the UK Government and the other devolved administrations. In the aftermath of the United Kingdom's decision to withdraw from the European Union in , the Scottish Government has called for there to be a joint approach from each of the devolved governments. In early , the devolved governments met to discuss Brexit and agree on Brexit strategies from each devolved government [] which lead for Theresa May to issue a statement that claims that the devolved governments will not have a central role or decision making process in the Brexit process, but that the UK Government plans to "fully engage" Scotland in talks alongside the governments of Wales and Northern Ireland.

Whilst foreign policy remains a reserved matter, [] the Scottish Government still has the power and ability to strengthen and develop Scotland, the economy and Scottish interests on the world stage and encourage foreign businesses, international devolved, regional and central governments to invest in Scotland. At the same time, McConnell and the then Scottish Executive pioneered the way forward to launch what would become the Scotland Malawi Partnership which co-ordinates Scottish activities to strengthen existing links with Malawi.

McConnell, speaking at the end, highlighted that the visit by Putin was a "post-devolution" step towards "Scotland regaining its international identity". Under the Salmond administration, Scotland's trade and investment deals with countries such as China [] [] and Canada, where Salmond established the Canada Plan — which aimed to strengthen "the important historical, cultural and economic links" between both Canada and Scotland. A policy of devolution had been advocated by the three main UK parties with varying enthusiasm during recent history.

A previous Labour leader. John Smith , described the revival of a Scottish parliament as the "settled will of the Scottish people". The constitutional status of Scotland is nonetheless subject to ongoing debate. The new government established a " National Conversation " on constitutional issues, proposing a number of options such as increasing the powers of the Scottish Parliament, federalism , or a referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.

In rejecting the last option, the three main opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament created a commission to investigate the distribution of powers between devolved Scottish and UK-wide bodies. Opposition from all other major parties led to an expected defeat. Following a referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union on 23 June , where a UK-wide majority voted to withdraw from the EU whilst a majority within Scotland voted to remain, Scotland's First Minister , Nicola Sturgeon , announced that as a result a new independence referendum was "highly likely".

Historical subdivisions of Scotland included the mormaerdom , stewartry , earldom , burgh , parish , county and regions and districts. Some of these names are still sometimes used as geographical descriptors. Modern Scotland is subdivided in various ways depending on the purpose. In local government, there have been 32 single-tier council areas since , [] whose councils are responsible for the provision of all local government services.

Decisions are made by councillors who are elected at local elections every five years. The head of each council is usually the Lord Provost alongside the Leader of the Council, [] with a Chief Executive being appointed as director of the council area. In the Scottish Parliament, there are 73 constituencies and eight regions. For the Parliament of the United Kingdom, there are 59 constituencies. Until , the Scottish fire brigades and police forces were based on a system of regions introduced in For healthcare and postal districts, and a number of other governmental and non-governmental organisations such as the churches, there are other long-standing methods of subdividing Scotland for the purposes of administration.

City status in the United Kingdom is conferred by letters patent. Scots law has a basis derived from Roman law , [] combining features of both uncodified civil law , dating back to the Corpus Juris Civilis , and common law with medieval sources. The terms of the Treaty of Union with England in guaranteed the continued existence of a separate legal system in Scotland from that of England and Wales. Various other systems derived from common Celtic or Brehon laws survived in the Highlands until the s.

Scots law provides for three types of courts responsible for the administration of justice: The supreme civil court is the Court of Session , although civil appeals can be taken to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom or before 1 October , the House of Lords. The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland.

The sheriff court is the main criminal and civil court, hearing most cases. There are 49 sheriff courts throughout the country. These were gradually replaced by Justice of the Peace Courts from to The Court of the Lord Lyon regulates heraldry. For three centuries the Scots legal system was unique for being the only national legal system without a parliament. This ended with the advent of the Scottish Parliament in , which legislates for Scotland. Many features within the system have been preserved. Within criminal law, the Scots legal system is unique in having three possible verdicts: There is, however, the possibility of a retrial where new evidence emerges at a later date that might have proven conclusive in the earlier trial at first instance, where the person acquitted subsequently admits the offence or where it can be proved that the acquittal was tainted by an attempt to pervert the course of justice — see the provisions of the Double Jeopardy Scotland Act Many laws differ between Scotland and the other parts of the United Kingdom, and many terms differ for certain legal concepts.

Manslaughter , in England and Wales, is broadly similar to culpable homicide in Scotland, and arson is called wilful fire raising. Indeed, some acts considered crimes in England and Wales, such as forgery, are not so in Scotland. Scots juries, sitting in criminal cases, consist of fifteen jurors, which is three more than is typical in many countries.

However, even prior to , half of Scotland's landmass was already covered by state-funded health care, provided by the Highlands and Islands Medical Service. In , the NHS in Scotland had around , staff including more than 47, nurses, midwives and health visitors and over 3, consultants. There are also more than 12, doctors, family practitioners and allied health professionals, including dentists, opticians and community pharmacists, who operate as independent contractors providing a range of services within the NHS in return for fees and allowances.

Traditionally, the Scottish economy has been dominated by heavy industry underpinned by shipbuilding in Glasgow, coal mining and steel industries. Petroleum related industries associated with the extraction of North Sea oil have also been important employers from the s, especially in the north-east of Scotland. In February , the Centre for Economics and Business Research concluded that "Scotland receives no net subsidy" from the UK, as greater per capita tax generation in Scotland balanced out greater per capita public spending.

In the final quarter of , the Scottish economy contracted by 0. Edinburgh is the financial services centre of Scotland, with many large finance firms based there, including: Edinburgh was ranked 15th in the list of world financial centres in , but fell to 37th in , following damage to its reputation, [] and in was ranked 56th out of Whisky is one of Scotland's more known goods of economic activity. Although Scotland has a long military tradition predating the Treaty of Union with England, its armed forces now form part of the British Armed Forces , with the exception of the Atholl Highlanders , Europe's only legal private army.

In , the infantry regiments of the Scottish Division were amalgamated to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Because of their topography and perceived remoteness, parts of Scotland have housed many sensitive defence establishments.

Scapa Flow was the major Fleet base for the Royal Navy until A single front-line Royal Air Force base is located in Scotland. RAF Lossiemouth , located in Moray , is the most northerly air defence fighter base in the United Kingdom and is home to three fast-jet squadrons equipped with the Eurofighter Typhoon. The Scottish education system has always been distinct from the rest of the United Kingdom, with a characteristic emphasis on a broad education.

The Curriculum for Excellence , Scotland's national school curriculum, presently provides the curricular framework for children and young people from age 3 to Formal primary education begins at approximately 5 years old and lasts for 7 years P1—P7 ; children in Scotland study Standard Grades , or Intermediate qualifications between the ages of 14 and These are being phased out and replaced by the National Qualifications of the Curriculum for Excellence.

The school leaving age is 16, after which students may choose to remain at school and study for Access , Intermediate or Higher Grade and Advanced Higher qualifications. There are fifteen Scottish universities , some of which are amongst the oldest in the world. Young Students are defined as those under 25, without children, marriage, civil partnership or cohabiting partner, who have not been outside of full-time education for more than three years.

Scotland's universities are complemented in the provision of Further and Higher Education by 43 colleges. These Group Awards, alongside Scottish Vocational Qualifications, aim to ensure Scotland's population has the appropriate skills and knowledge to meet workplace needs. Scottish music is a significant aspect of the nation's culture, with both traditional and modern influences. A famous traditional Scottish instrument is the Great Highland bagpipe , a wind instrument consisting of three drones and a melody pipe called the chanter , which are fed continuously by a reservoir of air in a bag.

Bagpipe bands , featuring bagpipes and various types of drums, and showcasing Scottish music styles while creating new ones, have spread throughout the world. Scotland has a literary heritage dating back to the early Middle Ages. The earliest extant literature composed in what is now Scotland was in Brythonic speech in the 6th century, but is preserved as part of Welsh literature.

As one of the Celtic nations , Scotland and Scottish culture are represented at interceltic events at home and over the world. The image of St. Andrew , martyred while bound to an X-shaped cross, first appeared in the Kingdom of Scotland during the reign of William I. There are numerous other symbols and symbolic artefacts, both official and unofficial, including the thistle , the nation's floral emblem celebrated in the song, The Thistle o' Scotland , the Declaration of Arbroath , incorporating a statement of political independence made on 6 April , the textile pattern tartan that often signifies a particular Scottish clan and the royal Lion Rampant flag.

Although there is no official national anthem of Scotland , [] Flower of Scotland is played on special occasions and sporting events such as football and rugby matches involving the Scotland national teams and since is also played at the Commonwealth Games after it was voted the overwhelming favourite by participating Scottish athletes. St Andrew's Day , 30 November, is the national day , although Burns' Night tends to be more widely observed, particularly outside Scotland.

The national animal of Scotland is the unicorn , which has been a Scottish heraldic symbol since the 12th century. Scottish cuisine has distinctive attributes and recipes of its own but shares much with wider British and European cuisine as a result of local and foreign influences, both ancient and modern. Traditional Scottish dishes exist alongside international foodstuffs brought about by migration. Scotland's natural larder of game , dairy products, fish, fruit, and vegetables is the chief factor in traditional Scots cooking, with a high reliance on simplicity and a lack of spices from abroad, as these were historically rare and expensive.

Irn-Bru is the most common Scottish carbonated soft drink, often described as "Scotland's other national drink" after whisky. During the Late Middle Ages and early modern era , French cuisine played a role in Scottish cookery due to cultural exchanges brought about by the " Auld Alliance ", [] especially during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary, on her return to Scotland, brought an entourage of French staff who are considered responsible for revolutionising Scots cooking and for some of Scotland's unique food terminology.

Scottish entrants have won many awards since the festival began in Television in Scotland is largely the same as UK-wide broadcasts, however, the national broadcaster is BBC Scotland , a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation , the publicly funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. Scotland also has some programming in the Gaelic language. BBC Alba is the national Gaelic-language channel. The main Scottish commercial television station is STV. Scotland has a number of production companies which produce films and television programmes for Scottish, UK and international audiences.

Popular films associated with Scotland through Scottish production or being filmed in Scotland include Braveheart , [] Highlander , [] Trainspotting , [] Red Road , Neds , [] The Angel's Share , Brave [] and Outlaw King Rockstar North , most notable for producing and creating the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise is based in the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh. Scotland has its own national governing bodies, such as the Scottish Football Association the second oldest national football association in the world [] and the Scottish Rugby Union.

Variations of football have been played in Scotland for centuries, with the earliest reference dating back to The world's first official international association football match was held in and was the idea of C. The match was between Scotland and England and resulted in a 0—0 draw.

Following this, the newly developed football became the most popular sport in Scotland. The Scottish Cup was first contested in As a result of this key role in the development of the sport Scotland is one of only four countries to have a permanent representative on the IFAB; the other four representatives being appointed for set periods by FIFA. The SFA also has responsibility for the Scotland national football team , whose supporters are commonly known as the " Tartan Army ". The national team last attended the World Cup in France in , but finished last in their group stage.

Celtic, Rangers and Dundee United have also reached European finals, the most recent of these being in With the modern game of golf originating in 15th-century Scotland, the country is promoted as the home of golf. Other distinctive features of the national sporting culture include the Highland games , curling and shinty. Scotland has competed at every Commonwealth Games since and has won medals in total—91 Gold, Silver and Bronze. Scotland has five international airports with scheduled services, operating to Europe, North America and Asia, as well domestic services to England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Highlands and Islands Airports operates eleven airports across the Highlands , Orkney , Shetland and the Western Isles , which are primarily used for short distance, public service operations, although Inverness Airport has a number of scheduled flights to destinations across the UK and mainland Europe. Edinburgh Airport is currently Scotland's busiest airport handling over 13 million passengers in Network Rail owns and operates the fixed infrastructure assets of the railway system in Scotland, while the Scottish Government retains overall responsibility for rail strategy and funding in Scotland.

The East Coast and West Coast main railway lines connect the major cities and towns of Scotland with each other and with the rail network in England. Domestic rail services within Scotland are operated by Abellio ScotRail. British Rail created the ScotRail brand. When British Rail existed, many railway lines in Strathclyde were electrified. Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive was at the forefront with the acclaimed "largest electrified rail network outside London".

Completed in , this cantilever bridge has been described as "the one internationally recognised Scottish landmark". The Scottish motorways and major trunk roads are managed by Transport Scotland. The remainder of the road network is managed by the Scottish local authorities in each of their areas.

Regular ferry services operate between the Scottish mainland and outlying islands. Ferries serving both the inner and outer Hebrides are principally operated by the state-owned enterprise Caledonian MacBrayne. Services to the Northern Isles are operated by Serco. Other routes, served by multiple companies, connect southwest Scotland to Northern Ireland. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the country. For other uses, see Scotland disambiguation. Various [b] Predominantly " Flower of Scotland ".

Sovereign state Legal jurisdiction. Modern use of the term describes products of Scotland usually food or drink-related. It is also a UK electoral region for the European Parliament. Certain executive and legislative powers have been devolved to, respectively, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament. ISO is GB , but. Timeline of prehistoric Scotland. Scotland during the Roman Empire. Scotland in the early modern period. Scotland in the modern era. Fauna of Scotland and Flora of Scotland. Languages of Scotland , Religion in Scotland , and Scottish people. Scottish population by ethnic group [] v t e.

Largest cities or towns in Scotland Scotland's Census []. Colonel Sharpe uselessinformation Mere Mortal posted If I recall corretly, Moray was portrayed in Braveheart, but tremendously innacurately shock. He was portrayed as one of the nobles who sold Wallace out at Falkirk. Come to think of it, that character's name may have been Mor n ay. OD Minister of the Interior [This message has been edited by uselessinformation edited Sharpe - I'll admit Edward I was a violent bastard, if you admit that william wallce was a violent uncultured barbarian.

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In the early fights against the Austrians, many Swiss were armed just with wood cutting axes. The terrain of Switzerland is good for defence, and the Swiss used primative field fortifications. Most Swiss companies were roughly the same size, and were based around a villiage or group of villiages. They actually drilled together, rather than just practising weapons drills.

Did the lowland Scots have any kind of drill, or were they just the normal levies? Did they fight in villiage groups, or were they just lumped together? I have read that the highlanders were pretty wild. I read a quote in which they are called "great naked hairy fellows. Anyway, would appreciate anyone who can give me an answer. The main disadvantages are of course that we needed the momentum to break through their ranks in the first place, or it turned into a mass slaughter - And that the only people who actually knew what we were doing was actually a tactic and not just a bunch of wild men charging at random.

The MacKays were noteably good at breaking enemy ranks in such ways. Colonel Sharpe baddave3 Mere Mortal posted The King of the Isles was an independent ruler. Where are the outer islands and Viking decendants in this war. Shetlands and Orkneys for example Thanks for the previous post. WillyWall Mere Mortal posted I could be wrong.

I hope to see more Scottish stuff here. My name is in reference to William Wallace. I've never found Wallace very great as a General. I think anyone that does is off their rocker. He was a good leader, and a good fighter, a brave warrior, but he won one large scale battle and lost another. I find Robert the Bruce and the Battle of Bannockburn very interesting, more interesting than Wallace, in fact.

Btw, the Bruce never was on the English side in the battle of Falkirk. In fact, it seems that the Bruce may have saved Wallace. When his father refused a summons to arms against England, the Crown seized his lands. Annandale was awarded to John Comyn of Buchan, a relative of Balliol and a representative of the most powerful of the noble houses. According to both, Bruce and many other Scots nobles were present at Falkirk, fighting on the side of Longshanks against Wallace, Comyn and the Balliol cause.

Pursuing them Wallace and his men from the other side, Robert de Bruce, when a steep and impassably deep valley between the troops of the two armies came into view, is said to have called out loudly to William, asking him who it was that drove him to such arrogance as to seek so rashly to fight in opposition to the exalted power of the King of England and of the more powerful section of Scotland. It is said that William replied like this to him: But it is an effeminate man even now, ready as he is to advance from bed to battle, from the shadow into the sunlight, with a pampered body accustomed to a soft life feebly taking up the weight of battle for the liberation of his own country, the burden of the breastplate, it is he who has made me so presumptuous perhaps even foolish and has compelled me to attempt or seize these tasks.

Hence, as he became every day braver than he had been, he kept all these words uttered by his faithful friend, considering them in his heart. This rough treatment of his father seems to have infuriated Bruce himself. Three weeks before the battle, he was still asking protection for some of his men travelling on Edward's service. The Battle of Falkirk was fought in 22 July , with Bruce's father playing an instrumental role in the English victory.

But astonishingly Bruce was in Ayrshire that summer, burning down the castle to prevent its use by the English invaders. After Falkirk therefore the English drove Bruce from his lands and burnt them. But by , after flirting with the supporters of Balliol, Bruce had defected to the English side again, once again seeking their political support in his own bid for the Crown, while his arch rival the Red Comyn clung to the shadow of his old allegiance to Balliol and the cause of national independence.

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Wallace himself returned from France in But victory proved short-lived. That summer Edward made peace with France, and led his first invasion of the Far North since , Bruce cap in hand and riding at his side. Edward thereafter continued his deceitful and dangerous experiment in abolishing the kingdom. Bruce was appointed Sheriff of Lanark and Ayr, betraying his last hope that loyalty to England could bring him the Scottish Throne.

Wallace and Fraser remained at large, and Bruce obediently accompanied the English army which tried to seize them near Peebles. In August Wallace was finally captured, taken to England in chains, and murdered at Smithfield, conveniently removing from Scottish politics the foremost supporter of the Balliol cause. But by Bruce appears to have been growing ashamed of his long servitude.

These increased resources at last gave Robert, newly The Bruce , the independent strength to plot his own march to power in defiance of the Plantagenet wrath. Lord of Hosts Mere Mortal posted Much more interesting and colourful than Braveheart. Errors in the film Braveheart Sir Symon Locard was entrusted with the key of the silver casket, and in honour of this deed his family took the name Lockhart.


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A heart within a fetterlock was placed on the family arms, with the motto Corda Serata Pando: I open locked hearts. Ere his own death at the battle of Teba in Spain in , the Black Douglas tore the silver casket containing the King's heart from around his throat and hurled it into the Moorish ranks, so that he might follow the Bruce into the fray one last time. It is now buried in Melrose Abbey, under a round stone slab bearing the inscription: Unsurprisingly I was raised to view Edward I as a monster. He was after all the infamous Scottorum Malleus: Hammer of the Scots.

I think his contribution to British history is positive only in terms of his elevation of English civilisation. South of the border Edward is seen as combining the political imagination of his great grandfather Henry II with the martial vigour of his great uncle Richard the Lionheart Edward was indeed a greater lawgiver than Justinian, and as a statesman he showed maturity and foresightedness. Edward consolidated the gains of the baronial revolutions of and , ensuring that the English constitution would become the benchmark of liberty and the standard against which the rest of the world is measured.

Through the authorisation of the Model Parliament of , democracy owes Longshanks an incalculable debt. Without his support, Magna Carta might have gone the way of the other great mediaeval charters of rights like the Privilegio General of Aragon and the Golden Bull of Hungary, whose promises of liberty were overturned by the relapse into Roman law in the Renaissance, facilitating the rise of absolutism, divine right and monarchical tyranny in so much of Europe, not the happiest among mankind.

Furthermore it was the Parliamentary opposition that compelled Edward to relinquish arbitrary measures and respect the convention handed down from Magna Carta that there shall be no taxation without representation. For Edward the rule of law was a means to self-aggrandisement and not an end in itself.

What he did with this battlefield mastery is another question. His pretension to overlordship over Wales and Scotland was unlawful and ruinously expensive, and it is not without justice that the crimes committed in the course of those wars have ever after tarnished his reputation. While Wales and Scotland became the focus of his unhealthy obsessions, they were not at the centre of his real best interests.

His designs on the Middle East came to nothing, owing to the difficulty in coordinating with his French and Mongol allies. But he had a just quarrel with Philip the Fair over the confiscation of Gascony in and the subsequent French aggression in Flanders, and his ultimate diplomatic success in Europe is a tribute to the supreme intelligence of his foreign policy. So on balance the Hammer of the Scots was a bold bad man, but a great king, for whom the world is a better place. I had no idea Braveheart was actually supposed to represent Socttish history Think ill email him with some of HIS errors and start whinging about those.

Now i know that film had a lot of errors I think the parallels outweigh the differences. The Scots pioneered the same infantry sciences, and when properly led they were similarly successful. But the nature of their opponent was also rather different. England boasted a centralised state power that was unique for its time, and in her army the Scots faced what really was the most formidable military array of the age.

Under Edward the English military was in transition, via the imposition of the regular war tax of scutage, from a feudal militia to a semi-regular body of free-contract mercenaries operating directly under the prerogative of the Crown. Instead it was the Scots who fought in France. Much more than her southern neighbour, Scotland in the late thirteenth century was still a feudal hierarchy, and her decentralised administration was still organised on continental lines.

The public charges could not be borne by the estates of the Crown, and the exchequer was generally unable to equip the citizen soldiery for operations. The exception was the Shrieval Militia, commanded by the Thirty Sheriffs, based in the Royal Burghs, which in theory operated under the direct authority of the central government. But in organisation and training the shire levies resembled the feudal arrays of the nobility, and being small and local their military potential was generally limited to policing clan and baronial feuds.

Indeed the ultimate failure of Wallace at Falkirk demonstrated that the Community of the Realm was still wholly dependent on the military power of the nobility and its compulsory feudal levy. He it was who had imported the institution of feudalism into the country, granting Lothian fiefs to a multitude of Norman and Breton knights.

He had further modernised the army by enacting the conventions of European military tenure in the Lowlands. Every subject between the age of sixteen and sixty was obliged by law to assume arms at the call of his liege lord, who was expected to provide the King with a number of men, horses, and ships directly proportional to the acres of arable that he held in fee. They had axes at their sides and carried spears in their hands. The amount of hands-on training depended on the amount of time available for the training period. The infantry was organised into squads of between five and ten men, often members of one family.

The Borders and Lowlands were on a permanent war footing, and by the early fourteenth century the frequent service rendered by the marching schiltrons ensured that they were often better capable of coordinating complex and disciplined manoeuvres on the field than the English feudal levies.

But their primary responsibility was to resist the Highland cattle raiders on predatory descent from the mountains. But in the Middle Ages, the Lowland longspearmen were not without skills of their own. Their ranks could not be broken by the disorderly charge of Highland infantry armed for close combat only, with swords, and ill furnished with missile weapons, and having no artillery whatever. Throughout the fifteenth century Lowland contingents as well as the gallowglasses of the Isles moved beyond defence of their own dominions, sailing from the Clyde every year to serve as mercenaries in Europe.

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It was in the fourteenth century, with the spread of Teutonic speech from the south, that the Highland Gaels really began to develop a conscious identity separate from the Lowlands. Feudalism never penetrated the Highlands. In the lonely mountains of the north the older institution of tribalism persisted. The Gaelic earls were not required to render knight-service, unless, like the Gordon and the Campbell chiefs, they happened to hold tenure in the Lowlands as well.

Otherwise the essence of this profoundly martial society remained unchanged from Celtic antiquity. In the Highlands military duty continued to be based in kinship to the monarch rather than homage for the land, which each chief held in common with his clan. In time of war he would call out his tribal host and fleet of oared galleys.

The Highlanders were pastoralists and natural infantrymen noted for their swiftness, strength and agility in the field. They fought at close quarters with swords and axes, and sometimes great horizontal bows. In the households of the chiefs great bodies of mercenaries were maintained on a permanent basis. The training of these contingents was characterised by its thoroughness, redundancy and intensity. When the Lowland pike and Highland axemen were allocated to the schiltron, they proved a formidable combination of human assets. The combined infantry won decisive victories over the English chivalry at Roslin Moor , Loudon Hill , Bannockburn , Byland , and Otterburn Like the Swiss, the Scottish militia won the battles that counted.

Against the odds they did after all wage a victorious war for national independence. Such defeats as did occur were due to a combination of three factors: For these reasons great noblemen such as the Red Comyn and Robert the Bruce often found it more expedient to conserve their resources by avoiding pitched battles with the invaders in favour of a guerrilla strategy and siege, and when all else failed, they pursued a course of equivocation and appeasement. The Scottish commander, Archibald Lord of Douglas, the Earls of Ross, Sutherland and Carrick, seventy barons, five hundred knights and thousands of infantry were mown down.

The English lost fourteen men. All told, Halidon Hill was one of the worst disasters in the history of Scottish arms, perhaps second only to Flodden